PALO ALTO, Calif.,
Dec. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --
Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals, a privately held biopharmaceutical
company dedicated to developing and commercializing high-impact
therapeutics that address critical unmet medical needs, primarily
for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, announced today
top-line results from the Company's Phase 1/2 clinical study of
NP002 for the treatment of dyskinesias (muscle movement disorders)
resulting from levodopa therapy for patients with Parkinson's
disease. Of the 500,000-1.5 million Parkinson's patients
in the United States, about 50%
experience incidence of levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LIDs), for
which there are no approved treatments. NP002 is a small
molecule, orally available nicotinic receptor agonist that has been
shown in preclinical studies to reduce LIDs without affecting
Parkinsonian symptoms.

A double blinded, placebo controlled, Phase 1/2 study
was performed to assess the safety and tolerability of NP002 in a
total of 65 individuals with Parkinson's disease and documented
LIDs. The primary objective of the study was the
establishment of safety and tolerability of NP002, with patients
being assessed over a 14-week treatment and monitoring period.
The secondary objective was to investigate the effects of
NP002 on a set of Parkinson's disease and dyskinesia assessment
scales, including The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale
(UPDRS), the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDRS), the Lang-Fahn
Activities of Daily Living Scale (LF-ADL), and the clinician and
patient global impressions of change scales (CGIC and PGIC).

NP002 administered concurrently with levodopa treatment
was found to be generally safe and well-tolerated in Parkinson's
patients with LIDs. In addition, NP002 was not associated
with any impulsivity or withdrawal issues when compared to placebo.
Although the trial was not powered as an efficacy study,
clinically relevant trends and, in two cases, statistical
superiority of NP002 over placebo were observed in a variety of
physician- and patient-rated PD efficacy outcome measures relating
to dyskinesias.

Abraham Lieberman, MD,
the study's principal investigator and Director of the Muhammad Ali
Parkinson's Center, commented, "NP002 represents an innovative
approach to a common side effect in treating Parkinson's disease
and has opened up new ideas on how to approach dyskinesias.
The early study results of NP002 in patients with Parkinson's
show promising trends in reducing dyskinesias and in improving
gait. I am encouraged by these results and believe they
provide a key piece in understanding and addressing the mechanism
of dyskinesias in many of our patients with Parkinson's
disease."

J. William Langston, MD,
Founder, CEO and Scientific Director of the Parkinson's Institute,
stated, "It's impressive that the NP002 study data were encouraging
across several scales used to measure dyskinesias. In
particular, the study showed a significant trend in improvement in
the objective UDRS scale and statistically significant results on
the PGIC scale, which measures how patients feel overall,
suggesting an improvement in quality of life. We are very
excited to see this work progress to Phase 2 trials based on these
encouraging data."

Carrolee Barlow, MD,
PhD, CSO and CMO of BrainCells, Inc., and scientific advisor to
Neuraltus on the NP002 program, stated, "Patients with Parkinson's
disease currently have no therapeutic options to address the
dyskinesias caused by levodopa treatment. The clinical study
demonstrated a clinically important improvement in dyskinesia
symptoms that could be detected by both clinicians and patients.
The data are compelling and provide a breakthrough for this
condition."

The Phase 1/2 data are the second clinical program
results reported by Neuraltus this week, following announcement of
clinical results for NP001, which showed safety, tolerability and
statistically significant effects on a biomarker of disease
progression in ALS. Neuraltus is committed to accelerating
the development of new drug molecules based on novel biology and
representing first-in-class approaches to target indications in
neurodegenerative disease where there is substantial unmet medical
need.

About Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held
biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and
commercializing high-impact therapeutics that address critical
unmet needs, primarily in the treatment of neurodegenerative
diseases. Neuraltus has three clinical-stage programs in its
development pipeline, including potential treatments for
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou
Gehrig's disease), Parkinson's disease and dyskinesias
associated with the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's
disease, and Multiple Sclerosis, as well as lysosomal storage
disorders such as Fabry's disease and Gaucher's disease. Each
of Neuraltus' clinical-stage programs is advancing novel drug
molecules that represent new, first-in-class approaches to treating
the Company's target disease indications.

Neuraltus began operations in 2009 based on a broadly
enabling technology portfolio and intellectual property assembled
by the company founders, Ari Azhir,
PhD, Neuraltus' Chief Operating Officer; Michael McGrath, MD, PhD, Professor of
Laboratory Medicine at the University of
California, San Francisco; and Edgar
Engleman, MD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology at
Stanford University School of Medicine.
In March 2009 Neuraltus closed
a $17M Series A financing with
leading venture groups Latterell Venture Partners, VantagePoint
Venture Partners and Adams Street Partners.